230-London Memories

Last lunch in London and I've found my way to Covent Garden, home of market stalls and street performers.  Off behind the apartments you can see the top of the London eye, with a plane bound for Heathrow up near the top.  I can't believe that 10 days prior I was in one of those planes getting ready to land.  Magnificent.

229-Royal Garden

The Gardens at Hampton Court Palace just outside of London are absolutely amazing.  Recently they set up an exhibit showing how the gardens evolved to their present state.  Hampton Court also contains the largest grape vine measuring 3.8 meters in circumference.  At some distant point in my life, I would like to have something similar to this, just in my own back yard.

228-Bohemia

At the Champ de Mars opposite the Louvre in Paris I saw this man.  God bless this man, although he does drink better wine than I do.

227-Eiffel Tower

After a day north I took the Eurostar to Paris.  That train puts anything in the US to shame, topping out at 300 kph and running absolutely silent.  Crossing the channel in just under 20 minutes.  And apparently the tour spazzes on the hour, something I never knew.

226-Blink of an Eye

Took the train north in the early morning and as I was taking photos out the window an the landscape this power station popped into the frame, and then it was gone.  Average speed: 200 kph.

225-Statue of Queen Anne

Statue of Queen Anne outside of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  I stopped off at St. Paul's after going to the Tate Modern and walking about in Southwark.

224-Palace Garden

The sunken garden at Kensington Palace.  Kensington is undergoing major renovation in preparation for 2012 so much of the palace is closed to the public.  The gardens are still kept up as well as the grounds around the orangery.

223-High Up

I took my ride on the London Eye today, and if you are considering going, spring for the Champaign Flight, extra $20 will save you 3 hours in line, put you in a capsule with half as many people, and a glass of bubbly to boot.  Cheers.

222-Horse Crossing

Next to the Wellington Arch is a cross walk that I paid zero attention to until I looked up and saw a box 8' in the air above the cross walk button.   I had to laugh when I realized what it was for.

221-Victoria & Albert

Just a small sampling of the magnificent ceramic collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington.  Amazingly the first museum that I wanted to see is only a 5 minute walk from where I'm staying.  Each of 6 rooms is 100 feet long, with 4 rows of glass shelving each about about 8 feet tall.  Needless to say the collection is very extensive from all periods and all parts of the world.

220-Departure

Standing by waiting to board my aircraft for my overnight flight to London.  I'm presently camped out in the American Airlines Terminal at JFK watching all the other planes take off and land.  It's quite a sight especially when the jumbo's lumber in.

219-LUV

LUV is Southwest Airline's ticker symbol and their marketing department has played up the idea of the airline you 'luv'.  Two very quick flights with a layover in BWI on my way back to NYC in preparation for  my London trip.

218-Forms

I liked the way the sun was hitting a shell on our front porch this evening.  I cropped it down, and punched the contrast to draw out the organic forms in the foreground and linear forms in the background

217-Perle

Wölffer Estate's Perle Chardonnay label.  This is one of my favorite wines from one of my favorite vineyards and like the label itself, the wine is simple and elegant.    I like to save this particular one for special occasions.

216-Birthday Pie

I'm not a big fan of cake, but I love pie.  So this year's birthday 'cake' is an apple pie.  Complete with the plastic garfield figures from my 7th birthday cake.  My mother saves them and pulls them out each year on my behalf.

215-Ferris

More Guinea Pig, because he's just so cute and fat.  Also he hasn't been featured in a while so I figured it was time to give him another round in the spotlight.

214-Above the Clouds

Flying back from NYC to Norfolk today with a connection at BWI.  I spent most of the day traveling for two 30 minute flights, hanging out in airports mostly.  Nice views though, and I didn't have to drive.

213-The Dark Side

If lighting is the light side then sound is the dark side of tech.  Today was a day to embrace the darkness within and play with knobs.